More Gore in store? 49ers running back seeks fifth straight 1,000-yard season

A sneak preview of the story running in tomorrow’s print edition. It hasn’t been past one our highly paid editors, so be gentle:

After four years racing past defenders and bowling over others, Frank Gore enters this season trying to outrun the odds.

The so-called bell cow of the 49ers offense is reaching the stage where lesser ball carriers are put out to pasture. According to the NFL Players Association, the average career length for a running back is 2.6 years, the shortest of any position.

Gore, meanwhile, is aiming for a fifth consecutive 1,000-yard season and showing signs of neither wear nor tear. “I could go all day, every day,’’ he said this week.

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He will make his preseason debut against the Raiders on Saturday not because he needs the work, but because Coach Mike Singletary wants his offensive line to remember what it’s like to block for a runner as dynamic as Gore.

Still, the question with Gore is: How much is too much of a good thing? He has carried the bulk of the 49ers offense since emerging as the featured back in 2006. Combine his hard-nosed style with erratic offensive line play and it’s a wonder that he still standing.

Despite occasional musings about sharing the load, no other 49ers running back since ’06 has more than 83 carries in a single season (Glen Coffee last season). Gore during that span averages 260 carries per year.

Gore has resisted talk of a two-back offense, but Roger Craig, one of the best running backs in franchise history, is among those to urge Gore – and the 49ers — to spread the wealth on offense.

Craig told The Mercury News last April that, “I think (Gore) needs to take a step back and realize it’s about the team. I could have run for 1,000 yards a lot of years, but we were not going to win that way. There’s no point in running for 1,000 yards if you’re not going to be in the playoffs.”

When a reporter read that quote to Gore on Wednesday, he was so mystified that he asked to hear it again.

“I don’t really understand that,’’ Gore said after a pause. “When (Craig) was here, they had great teams – a great quarterback, great receivers, tight end, fullback, O-line. We have that now, but when I first got here it wasn’t there, you know?

“That’s what he feels. That’s what he thinks. But I feel like I’m good. I feel great and that’s the type of player that I am. I can’t help what my coach calls. My coach puts the ball in my hand. I have to tell him I shouldn’t take it?”

Gore noted other NFL backs tote an even bigger burden. He has appeared in the league’s top 10 for rushing attempts only once, finishing ninth with 312 carries in 2006. He has finished in the top 10 for touches (carries and catches) only twice, finishing sixth in 2006 and 10th in 2007. (Click on this link and scroll down a bit to see Gore’s rankings on the annual leaderboards.)

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“Look at the other backs in this league. They had way more carries than me last year,’’ Gore said. “It’s not like I get to 1,000 yards and my yards per carry is three-point-something. I had 5 yards per carry (4.9 last season).”

Gore agreed with Craig on at least one point: the playoffs are far more important than the 1,000-yard milestone. And there’s no evidence that the two are mutually exclusive: The 49ers are 18-2 in his career when he has 20 or more carries. They are 15-5 when he has at least 100 rushing yards.

Still, Father Time has a way of catching even the best running backs from behind. The current issue of Sports Illustrated features a special report on the short shelf life of running backs, quoting Redskins’ Larry Johnson about the hazards of his job description.

“We run the ball, guys are taking shots at our legs, our hips,’’ Johnson told SI. “Then when we’re not running the ball, we’re pass-blocking, which means some strong safety or outside linebacker is getting a 30-yard run at us while we’re stationary.”

Gore, 27, said he works hard to be an exception. He returns each off-season to his fountain of youth, in Florida. The former University of Miami star trains with Hurricanes strength and conditioning coach Andreu Swasey. “He always says that his type of workout will keep us young,’’ Gore said. “And I think it does.”

He also credits 49ers strength and conditioning coach Duane Carlisle for teaching him how to handle bodily maintenance through cold tubs, massage and, recently, chiropractic care.

As if to demonstrate he hasn’t lost a step, Gore sped away from defenders to register three touchdown runs of at least 60 yards last season. He and the Jaguars’ Maurice Jones-Drew became the first NFL players with three such runs since 2003, when Ahman Green and Jamal Lewis did it.

But there were plenty of other times when Gore slammed into a wall of waiting defenders gearing up for the 49ers’ predictable attack. The Arizona Cardinals, for example, allowed him just 30 yards in 22 carries early last season, a 1.4 yard average.

Gore shrugs the shoulders of his 5-foot-9, 217-pound frame. He said his running style helps him avoid him taking a shot. “It’s just natural,’’ he said. “I’m low to the ground, so it’s hard to get good hits on me. I really deliver a blow instead of taking it.”

Gore is also eager to see how he fares in an offense planning to diversify in 2010. The emergence of receiver Michael Crabtree and tight end Vernon Davis should keep defenses from keying solely on No. 21 in the backfield. And Gore, like quarterback Alex Smith, says having the same offensive coordinator in tact for a second straight year has the offense ready to hum.

Can Gore outrun the odds? He finds out starting Saturday against the Raiders.

“I just want to get hit,’’ he said. “After that I’ll be good. I’ll be ready to go.”

Daniel Brown

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I can think of no other cliche worthless stat. Good runners ( ala OJ Simpson, Barry Sanders, et al) on lousy teams. Who cares ? Anyone remember lenvil eliot? He has a Super bowl ring. Walsh talked about this being a team sport, and he still is right.

Ron Guerrero

Marcus Allen, John Riggins, Emmit Smith, Terrel Davis, Marshall Faulk, all pretty good backs who led their teams to championships. It all goes together. The 49ers led the NFL in rushing during the decade. They also stopped the run as good as anyone. Those teams could beat you through the air, on the ground, and with their defense. To win it all you must be a complete team.

latopia

Gore: “It’s not like I get to 1,000 yards and my yards per carry is three-point-something. I had 5 yards per carry (4.9 last season).”
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Is this guy THAT credulous?

Where did Gore rank in tackles-for-loss and no-gains per carry? Next, how did those numbers compare to his 1000-yd peers? Then, where did those OLs compare to to Gore’s?

I don’t know if Gore pays more attention to *his* numbers than other elite backs. But one recent report made it sound almost ‘obsessive.’

Elliot/Ricky Patton are good examples. The Niners have yet to crack 22 ppg since Gore & his 4+ average arrived.

Patton led the Niners with a 3.6 average in SF’s 1st Super Bowl season — the first of a string of 22 ppg+ seasons under Walsh. That team included 8 x Niners (excluding QBs) who recorded 10+ carries that year — (Patton, Davis, Cooper, Davis, Easley, Hofer, Lawrence).

Gore can’t compare his numbers to Craig’s for the same reason(s) Sing’s groundchuck isn’t Walsh’s WCO.

What Craig has asserted *does* make sense, unlike Gore: spreading the rock — even when you *don’t* have an superior talent at OL, RB or WR — helps your offense where it matters most: on the scoreboard.

“[However,] what Craig asserted *does* make sense, unlike Gore: spreading the rock — even when you *don’t* have [superior physical] talent at OL, RB or WR — helps your offense where it matters most: on the scoreboard.”

latopia

(Patton, Cooper, Davis, Easley, Hofer, Ring, Lawrence)

Javi

Hey Iatopia, take a chill pill. One thing that everyone, including the writer of this” failed to acknolewdge is this. Frank stated, “I can’t help what my coach calls. My coach puts the ball in my hand. I have to tell him I shouldn’t take it?”

Niner13

I’d like to read a story/blog on the guy I call the Niners’ “silent killer:” Josh Morgan. He gets no props, no stories, no tv face time, yet catches everything within reach and blocks like a fullback. He’s the best blocker since John Taylor. And he can run like Taylor, too.

latopia

Gore: “I can’t help what my coach calls. My coach puts the ball in my hand. I have to tell him I shouldn’t take it?”

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Ha.

Gore’s world: I’m just a player. Can I help it if they gimme the ball? Ball -> Gore the Bystander.

Gore isn’t saying that he’s opposed to sharing the load-he’s just CLEARLY been the best option at RB since he’s been in the league and his backups are doing what in the NFL now? BTW, his best QB has been Alex Smith and the rest of the offense hasn’t been any good either. Who was Craig surrounded by on offense and who was his QB?